


Justice of Blood

by BlueDysania



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU, Don't care, Headcanon, M/M, colonial markings way to close, couldn't help myself, probably not true
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 03:50:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9366779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueDysania/pseuds/BlueDysania
Summary: After Saren's trial and subsequent declaration of innocence, Shepard is ready to crush the Councilors under the weight of the evidence she'll find. Before she can leave, however, she is stopped by a curious someone who changes her entire outlook.The power of blood is as equivalent to love. And his will not be ignored.





	

“Commander Shepard.”

The dual-toned voice calling from behind her might not have been enough to stir Shepard from her rage. It had festered throughout the Council Trial that had denied any fault in their golden Spectre’s image. What was her word, barely even a chosen for Spectre oversight, against Saren’s? The demand for evidence… when the Councilors held barely even indifference toward humans? It was infuriating.

Kaiden’s suggestion to find the C-Sec turian Garrus Vakarian had put her on a determined warpath.

So the voice of the turian Councilor might not have been enough to stop the urge to simply storm on with blatant disregard; hell the itch in her bones to turn and ask what other insults he might have for her now was just as tempting.

The tenor was what did it in the end.

It was subdued. Almost… despondent.

Shepard turned sharply, anger still marking her movements. Councilor Sparatus was walking toward her slowly, his head slightly bowed. She waited, tense and ready to defend herself if needed. Just as she was entertaining the idea of what the Council guards might do to her if she did attack, she noticed that there was no one accompanying him. A brief scan up and down the hall revealed that there was no one. Only herself, Williams, and Kaiden.

And Councilor Sparatus.

“What the hell is going on here?” She heard Williams muttered, and imagined that she was reaching for her pistol even now.

Nonetheless it was a good question and she echoed it back to the turian that had stopped a respectably distance away. The Councilor stared at her, a brief flash in the raptor eyes enough to remind her that as skilled as she was, the turian in front of her was a veteran of war and time. His steely composure revealed no weakness or vulnerability.

“Commander, there is something I must discuss with you. It is of a… personal matter.” Sparatus said coolly, his gaze falling pointedly on the two behind her.

She could sense the protests on Kaiden’s tongue and the insults on Williams. Stilling them with a hand, she considered the Councilor in front of her. If she wanted to prove her case, her ability to be an impartial but responsible Spectre, to listen and be listened too… she had to start somewhere. And this was one Councilor, rather than the impenetrable wall of all three.

“It’s okay. You guys go on ahead. See if you can find out where Vakarian went too.” Shepard ordered, “I’ll catch up with you.”

The strained silence was broken only by Kaiden’s soft, “Yes, Commander.”

As she listened to their retreating footsteps, Shepard studied the turian before her. In the Council Chambers upon the Councilor Podiums, the Councilor had struck a large, imposing figure. Even now, he had the aura of impenetrable stature.

Yet, as they were left alone, she couldn’t help but notice the shadow darkening his green eyes.

She was no expert in identifying turian expressions, she hadn’t spent much time with them during her service. But any soldier could recognize the shadow of grief. If the look in the Councilor’s eyes wasn’t grief, then Shepard had no right to call herself a being with emotions. Against her own anger, her expression softened as slowly the posture of the Councilor began to slump.

“Councilor,” she began when the silence continued, “what is you needed to discuss with me?”

“Commander, in light of this conversation… Sparatus. Please.” The Counci- Sparatus said softly. Shepard nodded once and he continued, “I know that my words in the Chamber were harsh. Saren truly is our most accomplished Spectre. It is not only difficult to believe he would be involved in these accusations, but you may not have known…”

Sparatus shook his head and seemed to refocus, “Like Nihlus was going to be overseeing your entrance into the Spectres, Saren had done the same for Nihlus. He taught Nihlus everything he needed to know to survive as one of our elite agents. In time… they grew closer than most Spectres. It’s not unusual.” He added, seeing her raised brow.

“You just let Spectres form romantic relationships with each other?” Shepard questioned skeptically.

“Who else would they choose to be with? With a Spectre’s lifestyle, a lover is difficult to obtain let alone keep.”

Shepard took a moment in the lapse of words to appreciate the oddness of discussing Spectre love lives with a Councilor who could deny or gift her with such a status.

“So what does this have to do with Saren?”

Sparatus seemed to sigh silently, “It doesn’t. I mean… not really. It’s just…”

The sight of Sparatus slowly bristling with agitation was less satisfying than Shepard thought it would be.

“My position in the Council often keeps me from saying that which I personally believe. As Sparatus, however, I wish you luck in finding the one responsible for Nihlus’ death.” He said abruptly. Almost pointedly. He was staring at her intently, “If it was Saren, then I will see him executed; by your own hand if you wish to pursue it. If it was another, then I will give you that mission to perform.”

His head bowed, “I will see justice done for Nihlus.”

The flood of admission seemed less of a surprise than Shepard would have thought it would be too. There was a heavy mantle of burden and grief on the turian’s shoulders, allowing her to see the man behind the Councilor. Her previous convictions cemented further in her mind, she nodded firmly.

“Don’t worry, Co- Sparatus. I intend to do just that.”

Sparatus lifted his head and the through the darkness in his eyes, she saw gratitude. He nodded back and then turned to walk back toward the Chambers. Yet, something lingered, a question. Why such a personal interest? An emotional one? She might have thought it was due to losing an agent, perhaps more so a turian leader losing his turian agent. But all her experience, limited as it was, told her that turians understood the consequences of their duties. A Spectre had the most dangerous work in the universe and while radically more experienced than most, they still died.

And the grief was far too strong for it to just be the loss of an Spectre.

“Sparatus, sir, why is this so important to you?”

The turian paused and for a moment, Shepard feared that she had overstepped her bounds too far.

Then he turned, meeting her eyes with a weight that had her swallowing harshly, “... Nihlus was my son.”

And all at once, she saw it. The coloration, the facial structure, and even the white colonial markings. They looked so much alike. _How_ could she have missed it?

It wasn’t just grief. It was heart-deep mourning. A father’s lamentation for his son.

She watched him silently turn and begin walking away again. He would return to that Chamber and be required to bury his sorrow under politics and regulations. All the while forced to defend the possible killer of his son because that was what was expected of him.

If she seemed more incensed, exiting the Tower, neither Kaiden or Williams mentioned it.

And if after revealing Saren’s involvement and betrayal, she met Sparatus eyes and saw the vengeance within them giving her, her orders regardless of anyone else’s say?

It would be a secret, locked away in an empty hall where a father beseeched a soldier to find the one who murdered his child.

She was a Spectre now; she would do her duty.

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, take a look at their faces and tell me they don't look related.


End file.
